Improvement in breech-loading fiee-aems



I -No. 62,077.

c: SHARPS.

' Breach-Loading Fire-Arm;

Ptqmea Feb. .12, 1867.

@uiten tutes @anni @mit IMPROVEMENT Ill BBEEGH-LOADING FIRE-RENS.

Uhr Srlgrmle mettre ta iu llgrse Enters @anni mit making purl nf illesunt.

l TO AIJLWHOM IT MAY GONGERN:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN SIIARPS, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,have invented certain Improve- 1 ments in Brooch-Loading Fire-Arms; andI do hereby declareA the following to he a full, clear, :ind exactdescription-of the same, refcrcncqbcing had tothe accompanying` drawing,and to the letters of reference marked thereon'. l 4

My invention relates to certain improvements fullydescribcd'hereaftcr'in the breech-loading {irc-arm well known as Sharps'rillc, for which' Letters Patent of the United States were/granted to meon the 12th day of September, A. l). 1848, and extended August 31'),1862, and' reissued July 5, A D. 1864, my improvement, having been madewith the view ol' rendering the said arm serviceable in the usc ofmetallic cartridges, parts of my' present invention being alsoimprovements inthe lire-arm for which Letters Patcnt'wete granted to meon the 29thof October, 1861. i j

In order to eable othersskilledin the art to make and use my invention,I will n ow proceed to describe its construction and operation. Onreference to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of thisspecilicationi Figure I is u. side viert' partly in section, of myimproved breech-loading tire-arm.l

2, ther-same, with the operating'partsin E. positign difeing'from thatlshown inliig. I.

,'ise'tion'of part oi cl'reuflre-arml in a position the reverse of thatseen in iigs. 1 and 2,` showing Figi! the breech-piece lowered.

l Figure' 4,' another sc'ctional view. 1 Figure 5, a sectional'plan onthe line 1-2, iig. 1. l Figure 6 an inverted plan view of part of.thefirearm. Figure 7, a transverse section on the vline 3-4, fig. 1; and

l Figures B and 9, enlarged views illustrating one feature of myimprovement.

' A represents thsbiirrel and B the frame `of lthe ronrm, which isprovided with a breech-piece, C, arrangedis'a sernicircular` groove, a,which,' under the circumstances described hereafter", forms n.continuation of tho the opening'in the frame B, is a' spring catch, c,the .end of which is adapted to (a notch, d, in the frame, (son 3.) Alever, 1),-'which also serves as a triggerguard, is hung to a pin,` E,which passes through the frame` Iand onv this pin ishung loosely an arm,F, having a shoulder, e, for a purpose rendered apparent hereafter. To l'the lever D, at the pcintf, is secured. spring plate, G,'which iB cutaway so as r'o form a projection, g, arranged i to bear against lthe armF,'(see iig. (i.)r It will be scemo!! reference to the dotted lines iniigs. 8 und 9, that the part of' the frame B through which the pin Epasses is rounded und forms a segment of a circle described from f...the eentremf the pin, the scid segment meeting s. hollow curve, h, thepurpose of which will bc explained hereafter.

l To a chamber formed in the frame is adapted a' sliding-bar, H, thefront end of which, owing to the spiral spring i, is always in contactwith the arm I, and which has a projection, j, adapted to a recess cutin thcrear ofthe barrel, the said'projection having a notch to receiven. portion of the lango of the metallic cartridge. .supposing a cart-,ridge to have been discharged and its metal case to be still in thebagel, the lever D is depressed from the position shown-'in gxl, andmoved forward towards that shown in {g. '2; thereby drnwingown thebreechpiece C until the 'end of tho' spring catch centers the'notch d oftbc freine A(seo iig. 3) andprevents the further descent of the breech-I.piecc,tho semieir'cular groove or concavity a in the top of thebreechpioeo now coinciding with and forming n. continuation of thegroove b in the frame. It will be observed, on reference to figs. 3 and4, that there is on the lever D an arm, 1:1, which projects into'xmopening inthe breech-piece, the arm having atits outer end and on euchside r o'. pin, fr'. l During the above-described movement of the leverDthe two pins n bore on shoulders, p, formed in the hpening-of theybreech-piece, hencet-he descent of .the latter until arrested by a.spring catch, c, at which point '(seegum-the pins nlpuss'the end-i gefthe said shoulders p'. The breech-piece being now stationary, the leveris4 'Novel iewy-rm th projection y ol" the spring p lete G catchesngairrst the notch e of the arm'Fand movesV yth'elzitter,and with it thespring-bar H back, thereby withdrnwinglthe cartridge case from the rearof the barrel, "as seen in 2, along the channel formed bythe groove ainthe top of the breech-piece and that' in the frame.

Aetlie loyer D approaches the limit of its forward-movement, the portiong' (tig. 6) f the spring plate G comes to slide vertically inanvop'ening foi-med in the frame .for its reception. In the upper end ofthe `sliding breech' clmnncl'b` of the frame, (sco figs. 4 and 5..)Secured to the under side of the breech, and projecting upward into.

non 2 in contact with that portion of the frame where the hollow curve hpreviously alluded to occurs.. As the edge g of the plate traverses thiscurve, the latter is the means of moving the outer end of thevsaidspring plate away from the lever, and the projection g of the plate awayvfrom the notch e of the arm F, which, owing to the action of the springz' against the bar H, is moved forward into a recess, t, formed in theframe, (see'lig. 2,) while the notched projcctionj of the bar. H takesits place in the recess u at the rear`of thcbarrel. It will 'be seen, onreference to fig. 4, that when the lever has been moved forward to itsutmost extent the hooked projection w overlaps the lip y en thebreech-piece and prevents the lutter from being accidentally raised. Anew cartridge having now been inserted into the rear of the barrel, thelever Disldrawn buck toward its'former position, the

breech-piece. when, on the further movement of the lever D,thc breech,released from the control ofthe hooked projection w ofA the said lever,will be elevated until it reaches the position illustrated in fig. V1,the outer end of the lever being now in Contact with the underside ofthe stock and serving as o. trigger-guard. After the cartridge has beendischarged the lever is again-depressed-and moved forward, thevpiusn ofthe arm'm bearing Y on the shouldcrsp and consequently depressing thesliding breech as before.

It has not been deemed necessary to illustrate the mechanism of the lockor to describe the operation of the hammer and trigger, as these partsmay be similar to those of" other fire-arms. A movable block, x,arranged in the sliding breech ador-ds a communication between thehammer and the metal cartridge for the purpose of discharging thelatter, as described in aforesaid patent of October 29, 1861, in whichnre also described and claimed the recessed rear ofthe barrel for thereception of the flange oi' the cartridge, in combination with thevertical sliding breech, and thc bar H, with its notched projection, forwithdrawing the cartridge, the bar, as described in the. said patent,being operated by hand only, whereas, by the present improvement, it isoperated by the lever D, but'may, when desired, bc manipulated by theaid of its projecting rod, figs. 1, 2, and 5. It willl be seen that thearrangement of thejsliding breech und frame is based upon that describedin my said original patent of September 12, 1848, reissued July 5, 1864,and extended August 30, 1864.

Without confining myself to the specific arrangement and construction ofthe several ports herein described, I claim as my invention, and desireto secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the hooked projectionw, or its equivalent, on'the lever D, with the lip y, or its equivalent,on the sliding breech, for the purpose specified.

2. vThe spring-bar H, arranged to slide in thc frame B, and having anotched projection j, in combination with the lever D and its arm F, thewhole being arranged substantially as described, so that the cartridgemay be extracted either by the manipulation lof the lever D orsliding-rod H.

3. The combination of the spring plate Gr on the lever D, the notch c onthe arm F, and the portion z of the frame, by which the said springplate is released from the notch on moving forward the said lever D.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

. CHRISTIAN SHARPS. Witnesses:

H. HowsoN, Jenn WHITE.

